


Pillow Talk

by ajna



Category: Fortunes of War
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Marriage, Reconciliation, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-12 05:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11155140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ajna/pseuds/ajna
Summary: Guy may have bounced back lightning fast to his busy life the day of Harriet's return, but his heart hadn't quite kept up with him that night





	Pillow Talk

**Author's Note:**

> Night is when honesty and courage have a chance

"Harriet..."

"Hmm?"

"Don't make me a widower again."

"Guy, practically everyone we know is a widow or widower. This has been our reality for years now."

Guy opens his mouth to speak but no words come, only a short broken sob. They both know what Guy meant. And they both know that what Harriet said requires no parsing. The war has been scorching the earth for years now, but in this bed, in the dark, Guy can beg his wife to stay alive.

Harriet turns to her side and gently caresses her husband's face.

"I'm sorry I made you a widower, at least temporarily. But I'm not sorry I went on that journey, a journey that only I can make. I suppose, in a way, your wife died a while ago. The trip made me feel positively reborn. I had to find my self, Guy. Do you want to be married to someone who doesn't have a self?"

"No, I suppose not." Guy sniffles, lays his hand over Harriet's, and twines their fingers. Bringing their hands to his lips, he takes a steadying long inhale. "Does that mean we're newly weds again?"

"Are you proposing a honeymoon?" Guy can hear Harriet's catching amusement and hope in the dark and he chuckles at his own question.

"I suppose I am."

As wedding vows and honeymoons go, it was a night of many renewals, reassurances, and rediscoveries.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I have ever written in my life. I have loved Olivia Manning's series for decades now and have always wondered about that first night after Harriet returns


End file.
